Koh Samed

Here are a few images of (Ko Samet) Koh Samed taken in January 2010 with a Canon EOS 50D. The island derives its name from the cajeput tree and lies in Rayong Province & is part of a marine national park.

To get there you take a boat from the mainland village of Ban Phe to Na Dan harbour or to one of the beaches such as Ao Wong Deuan.

Boats at Ban Phe harbour, the first is a wooden fishing boat, the second from the Sea Fisheries Department.

Colorful fishing boats at Na Dan harbour, these boats are usually used to transport people and goods to & from the mainland.

Low hanging electrical cables can be used as washing lines. Thais are very practical people.

On This road between the harbour & beach people zoom up and down day & night.

Here are a sampling of some of the beaches on Samed Island.

As soon as the sun goes down bungalow operators take over the Hat Sai Kaew beach,and set up their tables, mats and light their grills. In the busy season there are also fire shows every night.

Sometimes I'm up before dawn and walk around the island, sometimes people sit on the beach waiting for the sunrise, sometimes they are lying there from the night before with mange dogs keeping them company.

Between Hat Sai Kaew (Diamond Beach) and Ao Hin Khok beach is a rocky point with a mermaid & prince statue atop, these represent characters of the Thai classical poet Sunthorn Phu from his epic work Phra Aphai Mani.

From this point I captured the Monks on their alms rounds, not far away was a decorated Naga stairway leading to some bungalows.

For breakfast I like to go back to the main road and sit at an open front restaurant and watch the vendors, masseuses and tourists arriving on the island from the mainland, either walking or riding on overloaded pickup trucks.

Some popular vendors walk & sell to the locals, its nice to watch them interacting with each other, I'm hardly noticed taken photos at this time of the morning.

Sometimes when certain important people arrive on the island, these navy boats accompany them.

These images were taken in January 2007 with a Canon Powershot S5 IS on a boat trip around the island.

Years ago I would visit Samed Island regularly as a quiet getaway when traveling around Thailand and the bordering countries, it was the place to go when I had overspent elsewhere, here I would slow down and recover before moving on. Now I visit less often as the motor boats and jet skis slowly take over the nicest beaches.